FOX’s The Rebel Billionaire, Spike’s I Hate My Job both debut tonight. Two celebrity-fronted series debut tonight. The most notable is FOX’s The Rebel Billionaire, which kicks off with a two-hour premiere at 8 p.m. ET.
Sixteen players will compete in outrageous stunts around the world as they fight to take over Richard Branson’s Virgin empire. (They’ll become president while he remains chairman, as USA TODAY reports.) Also debuting tonight is Spike TV’s I Hate My Job, hosted by Al Sharpton. The series kicks off at 9 p.m. ET, and “[gives] eight regular guys the opportunity of a lifetime, to ditch their present ‘crappy’ jobs and go after their dream career.” The Chicago Tribune says both shows “have borrowed elements of The Amazing Race, the reality genre’s gold standard for pacing and suspense.” And The Calgary Sun reports that the original concept for Billionaire was a Race-like “international scavenger hunt.”

about the writer

Andy Dehnart is a journalist who has covered reality television for more than 15 years and created reality blurred in 2000. A member of the Television Critics Association, his writing and criticism about television, culture, and media has appeared on NPR and in Playboy, Buzzfeed, and many other publications. Andy, 37, also directs the journalism program at Stetson University in Florida, where he teaches creative nonfiction and journalism. He has an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing and literature from Bennington College. More about reality blurred and Andy.

follow reality blurred

about this publication

reality blurred exists to cover television's most under-appreciated genre, reality TV, with original reporting, analysis, criticism, and curated information. It's edited by Andy Dehnart.
reality blurred is regularly updated with reality TV news; behind-the-scenes reports; interviews with reality TV show cast members and producers; and recaps and reviews of reality TV shows including Survivor, Big Brother, The Amazing Race, The Bachelor, Project Runway, The Voice, Top Chef, and many more.
Learn more about the site.